Please Help: High-End car audio


Firstly, I hope those word aren't an oxymoron. I've got all Focal drivers with a Soundstream amp. I bought an eclipse head unit and in-dash changer and hate the sound. Its not bad, but for as much as I spent, I'm not happy about it. It just sounds thin and unlifelike. The factory cd player through the spkr-line level adaptor didn't sound that much worse. If anyone has any experience with some head units in the car that really sound nice I'd be appreciative. The most I can do is exchange the Eclipse gear or try an sell it. Is Nakamichi about the only other one? And just how bad are the tuners at the expense of a good cd player. My home system is a fanfare tuner with all Van Alstine gear. I don't expect my car to sound that good, but at least musical. And I won't buy McIntosh, too expensive and ugly.
ezmeralda114405

Showing 1 response by resulta4sure

I bet your problem is the head unit or amp. I just picked up a Sony ES CDX C-90 and WOW! The reason is digital to analog processing. The CD just has digits on it and you can't listen to numbers you have to convert them to sound. The C-90 uses 4 Burr Brown chips that's what McIntosh uses in their home units. It makes a huge difference in depth and detail of sound that no normal head unit could match. Watch E-Bay for one they come up sooner or later at better than the $1200.00 list price. Also it could be the amp I like PPI very clear. The Focals are good speakers you're just feeding them bad processing.